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THW sends out Reconnaissance Team to Ethiopia

Today, on Sunday, on behalf of the Federal Government, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has sent out a reconnaissance team of five to Ethiopia. The experts are to advise the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on managing the hunger crisis on the Horn of Africa and to assess support possibilities provided by THW.

About 12 million people on the Horn of Africa are threatened by death from starvation.Source: THW

Due to the continuing drought, about 12 million people on the Horn of Africa are threatened by death from starvation. The refugee camps on the border to Somalia are overcrowded. The task of the reconnaissance team is to identify possibilities of further camps and to find out about appropriate relief measures to be provided by THW.

Possible operations of THW could take place in the areas of development of infrastructure, building of sanitary facilities and water supply for the refugees. With the Standing Engineering Capacity (SEC), THW has an operative unit which provides quick technical and logistical help in building camps. At the moment, THW-volunteers from the SEC support the United Nations (UN) in building accommodation for staff from different UN-organisations in South-Sudan.

The Federal Agency for Technical Relief is the operational organisation of the Federal Government for civil protection and based on the work of more than 80,000 voluntary operational staff members and about 800 full-time employees. For many years, THW has focused on providing technical and logistical help at home and abroad by resorting to its technical expertise and special equipment. In the previous six decades, THW has been active world-wide in more than 130 countries to provide humanitarian emergency help, participate in projects and see to relief goods transport.

Press release of the Federal Ministry of the Interior

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